Falmouth man charged with killing gulls

WEST YARMOUTH — A 22-year old Falmouth man is facing charges after he allegedly intentionally ran down and killed two gulls at Sea Gull Beach on Wednesday.

Brandin Botelho was charged with cruelty to animals and negligent operation of a motor vehicle as to endanger, Yarmouth police wrote in a statement on Friday.

A couple flagged down a Yarmouth police officer around 5:15 p.m. Wednesday along Route 28 and told him that they witnessed someone run over a flock of the birds at the beach, police wrote.

A dispatcher had also received a call from a local business owner, who reported that he had seen a black Honda Civic drive through the parking lot at the gulls.

“The businessman further stated that based on what he observed, it was apparent that the operator intentionally targeted" the birds, police wrote. “The witness stated there were several families in the area, all of whom were very upset about what they saw.

Police found the two dead gulls and a witness gave them the suspect vehicle’s license plate number. The plate was matched to Botelho’s vehicle, and police left a message at his home, according to the statement. The Yarmouth Natural Resources Department was also notified, and a review of footage from security cameras the department maintains in the vicinity was requested, police said.

Police later made contact with Botelho, who initially denied knowledge of the incident, according to the statement. After informing him there was footage of the incident, Botelho “admitted that he did remember seeing a bunch of seagulls in front of his car. He stated that he saw the seagulls fly up in the air and scatter about as he drove by them,” police wrote. “He denied that he hit any of them.”

On Thursday, Department of Natural Resources officials reviewed the video, which “clearly shows Botelho operating his vehicle in a reckless manner through the parking lot,” according to the statement.

“Botelho rapidly accelerated through the lot reaching a high rate of speed,” police wrote. “He then drove directly through a flock of over 25 seagulls.”

In the statement, police noted that the video shows Botelho intentionally speeding up when he drove through the flock and “shows that he went out of his way to hit the birds.”